Safety guard for presses



July 2, 1929- G. s. NEI-:LEY 1,719,125 SAFETY GUARD FOR PRESSES Filedmay 22, 1926 2 sneetwsnee 1 @wdr/Ww@ vJuly 2, 1929 G. s. NEELEY SAFETYGUARD `FOR PRESSES 2 sneetsfsheex 2 Filed May 22, 1926 Patented July 2,1929.

UNITED `STATES l 1,719,125 PATENT OFFICE..

GEORGE S. NEELEY, 0F HARTFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR- OF ONE-HALF TOGRIFFIN VVATKINS, OF ALTON, ILLINOIS.

sAFnrY eUAn-n ron rnnssns.

Application filed May 22, 1926. Serial No. 110,917.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements 1n safety guardsior presses and particularly :tor leather presses.

In the history of the operation of embossing presses, and particularlyleather presses,

there arc recorded many instances of the press operators losing theirhands or fingers due to the hazardous operations of such presses.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a safety guardcomprisin,f ,r automatically operable means which are powerful to bodilymove the press operator away from the press, thereby providing;assurance that the press operator is always clear of the worln ing' jawsof the press during` the closing,1 operation of the press jaws.

Further objects of the invention are to provide an automatic safety`guard that is positive in its action and provides absolute safety tothe operator.

Still further objects of the invention are to provide a safety guardhaving, a minimum number of working parts and requiring very littleattention, thereby reducing` the 1naintenance expense to minimum.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a safety guard `that isadjustable to regulate 'the throwrof` the safety bar with respect to thesize of the operator so as to `bodily move any sized operator a safedistancefrom the jaws durimr` the pressingl operation,

Still other objects of the invention are to produce a safety guard thatof simple construction, provides easy access to the worlring;r parts ofthe press and which isarranued so as to allow the use of materials ofgreat strength, thereby providing a safety device that is reliable inoperation and. will not become easily bent, broken, or renderedinoperative.

With. these and other objects in view, my invention consists in certainnovel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinaftermore fully described and claimed, and illust-rated in the accompanying`drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevational view` of a pressshowing the safety guard applied thereto.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of same.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of a modified form of my invention.

Figure f1 is an end elevational view of still another modified form ofmy invention.

Figure 6 is a. cross sectional view taken vien7 Figure 8 is a crosssectional view taken on i line 8'-8 of Figure 2.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 10 indicates a presshaving a stationary jaw 11, aimovable j avv 12, and front and reartables 14. In the operation ofthe press, work material, such as leather,is placed on table 14 and moved on to the jaw 12 by the operatorwhereupon the press is operated by suitable mechanism, not shown, tobring the movable jaw 12 against jaw 11 and place the work positionedtherebetween under pressure. In arranging the work on the movable jaw12, the operator necessarily extends'his or her hands betweenthe jaws.Consequently, if the press is operated prematurely or the operator isslow in withdrawing' his hand from between the jaws, the hand or finderswill lee` caught between the jaws and crushed.

By the use of the safety guard herein disclosed,the operator is movedbodily a suitable distance from the press as soon as the latter isoperated so that it is impossible for the operator to have his or herhandscaught between the aws, thus providing;` positive means forinsuringr the safety of the operator. This safety guard comprises ahorizontally disposed `bar 15, preferably arranged in front and rear ofthe press ata suitable height so that when said bar is moved outwardlyit will hear against the chestof the operator and push the latter asuitable distance from the press so that the hands of the operator evenif stretched ,forwardly the full distance will be outof reach of theljaws. The ends of each bar 15 are secured to one of the ends of" a pairof vertically disposed arms 16 which are pivotally mounted at 17. 4

In the preferred form, this mounting consists of brackets 18 secured tothe ceiling; above the press and supporting a horizontally disposed rodorpipc 19 on which are loosely `disposed T-connections 20 which receivethe upper ends of arms 16.` In this manner a U-shaped member is formed,the horizontal portion of which when the press is inactive is disposedimmediately in front of the table 14 and tl'ieupper ends of the verticalportions of vpress.

which are pivotally suspended from the ceiling with. thek U-shapedmember aecupying substantially vertical position. y

A horizontally disposed rod or pipe 21 1s mounted l"at its ends by meansof T-connections 23 tothe vertically disposed arms 16 a suitabledistance from pivots 17, and loosely arranged on said rods areT-connections 24 of link members 25 which latter extend inwardly anddownwardly toward the center of the The inner end of each member 25 1sxed to a T-connection 26 which is loosely arranged on a horizontallydisposed rod or tube 27. `Thus the movement of rod 27 in vertical planewill cause arms 16, through angularly disposed members 25, to swing onpivots 17. ,The extent of this swinging movement is controlled Vby thelocation of rod 21 relative tothe respective pivots 17. To thispurposeT-eonnections 23 are adjustable on garmsl so that rods 21 may bemoved toward pivots 17 to increase the arc of movement of' sitionsrelative to tablev14. This joint preferf. ably comprises` a turn buckleor screw 29 having its .endsin oppositely threaded engagementwithsections b,whereby by turning member 29 in proper direction, member25 may be extended or shortened. A jam nut 30 serves 'tolockeach end ofmember 29 with therespective section 251. Connections 26 are arranged inpairs which extend in opposite directions `from member Y27 to receivethe ends of members 25which Vconverge toward the 1 center of thepress.The ends of member 27 are carried by connections 31 which latter arefixed jtovertically disposed members 32 arranged on each side of thepress and having i their lower endslixed to the respective sides ofmovable jaw 12as indicated at 33.

z The upper ends of members 32 are formed tubular andareopen to receiveand form telescopic .engagement with the downwardly presented guides 34which are secured to the yceiling andare disposedin axial verticalalignment lwithmembers 32. The ends of front bars 15 are tied-togetherby transversely disposed side sections 35 having a. telescopic joint 36toprovide for the relative -i =swinging movements of bars 15. This teleycn scopic joint is formed by forming eaeh'section 35, of twof tubularmembers 37 and 38, respectively, one'end of a rod 39 being fixed tomember. 38 and the-opposite end of which sitelydisposedend of tubularmember 37.

3 When the press is operated, jaw 12 is moved upwardly, thereby raisingvertically disposed side bars 32, the latter being guided in theirvertical movement by guides 34. This elevates horizontally andlongitudinally disposed members 27 which acts as a. toggle joint formembers 25, thereby causing vertically disposed rods 16 to swingoutwardly away from the press as shown in dotted lines 1n Figure 2. Indoing so, bars 15 bear against the upper part of the opcrators body andmove him or her bodily away from the press. The throw or outwardmovement of bars 15 is calculated so that when the operator is moved bysaid bars his outstretched hands will be a safe distance from the jawsof the press so that under no circumstances would be it possible for theoperators hand to be caught between the jaws. The throw or outwardmovements of bars 15 can be regulated to take care of different sizedoperators by adjusting the rods 21 with respect to pivots 17 andcorrespondingly adjusting link members 25.

As the vertical movement of member 31 is fixed, being the same as themovement of jaw 12, the shifting of T-connections 23 relative to pivots17 will control the extent of outward movement of bars 15. In thismanner bars 15 are positively operated in proper time relation with theactuation of the press and the safety guard is so arranged that it doesnot interfere with the operation of the press or the duties of theoperator.

In the form shown in Figure 3, bars 16 extend downwardly from bar 15 andhave their lower ends pivot-ally mounted at 41 on the lloor of the pressroom. Links 42 are pivotally connected to the movable jaw 12 at 44 andto the bars 16 at 45, thereby causing bars 15 to swing outwardly withthe upward movement of jaw 12. This form of construction is especiallydesigned for use where it is not desirable or not practicable to mountthe swinging bars from the ceiling.

In the modified form shown in Figure 4,

y bars 16 are actuatedbylinks 46pivotally interengaged at one of theirends with bars 16 and having their opposite or inner ends pivotallyinterengaged with a table 47 of a movable jaw 12l as at- 48, saidpivotal points 48 being disposed to each side of the stationary jaw 11.

In the type of the press disclosed in this form, the size of table -1-7is such that it is more convenient to mount the members connecting themovable jaws with the actuating mechanism of the swinging bars direct onto the l table of said jaw.

A guard of my improved construction is so arranged that 1t does notinterfere with or .hamper the operator in tending to the press.

the guard foolproof and safe under allconditions. i

The parts are of strong construction and arel subjected to very littlewear as the movements of the variousiparts are negligible,

thereby reducing the danger of the mecha,-`

nism getting out of order to minimum. rlhe telescopic side bars 35provide guards for the sides of the press so as to prevent accidentalmovement of the operator or other workman too close to the press,without, however, interfering with the access to the machine.

My improved guard is so constructed that it is not necessary to removeor disconnect the guard or any of its connections in making adjustmentsor minor repairs on the press, thereby eliminating the danger of theguard being left disconnected by the mechanic.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, itis obvious that minor ychanges in the size, form, and construction ofthe various parts of my invention may be made and substituted for thoseherein shown and described, without departing from the spirit thereof asexpressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. An automatic safety guard for presses comprising in combination witha movable part of a press a system of pendulum arms arranged in pairs oneach side of the press and oscillatory transversely of the press,horizontally disposed bars arranged in front of each end of the pressand supported by each pair of said arms, and toggle mechanism eonnectedto the opposite arms of said pairs of arms and operable by a movablepart of the press for causing said bars to move laterally a suitabledistance from the press to prevent access to the press during theclosing operation of the movable press jaw.

2. A safety guard for presses comprising in combination with a movablepart of a press arms pivotally suspended at points remote from saidpress, a link pivotally connected to each arm and to said movable partof said press for actuating said arms in co-relation with said press,and horizontally disposed bars carried by the free ends of said armsadjacent to each end of said press and movable laterally by said arms tobodily push the operator away from the press during the closing movementof the main Aworking jaw.

3. A safety guard for embossing presses comprising in combination with amovable part of a press, oppositely spaced two pairs of arms pivotallymounted adjacent to said press, a horizontally disposed bar carried bythe free ends of one pair of arms and normally disposed immediately infront of said press at a predetermined height with respect to theoperator, means operable by said movable part of said press andconnected to said arms for oscillating the latter, whereby said bars areactuated in an are away from said press a predetermined distance duringthe closing ll. A safety guard for presses `comprising in combinationwith a movable part of a press, `opposite two pairs of arms pivotallysuspended from the ceiling of the press room, horizontally disposedbarsarranged adjacent to each end of said press and fixed to said arms, saidbars being movable laterally by said arms to bodily push the operatoraway from the press during the closing movement of the main working jaw, of said press, toggle joint mechanism connecting the respectivepairs of pivoted arms, and connections between said toggle jointmechanism and a movable part of said press for actuating said arms andmoving said bars to position the op erator a definite distance away fromthe press during the closing movement of the jaws of said press.

5. A safetyI guard for presses comprising in combination with a movablepart of a p1.'ess,two opposite disposedpairs of arms pivotally suspendedfrom the ceiling of the press room, horizontally disposed bars arrangedadjacent to each end of said press and fixed to said arms, said barsbeing movable laterally by said arms to bodily push the operator awayfrom the press during the closing movement ofthe main working jaw ofsaid press, toggle joint mechanism connecting the respective pairs ofpivotal arms, connections between said toggle joint mechanism and amovable part of said press for actuating said arms and moving said barsa definite distance away from the press during the closing movement ofthe jaws of said press, and means for adjusting the points ofinterengagement between said toggle joint mechanism and said bars toregulate the operative movements of said arms.

6. A safety guard for presses comprising in combination with a movablepart of a press, opposed arms pivotally suspended from the ceiling ofthe press room, horizontally disposed bars arranged adjacent to each endof said press and fixed to said arms, said bars being movable laterallyby said arms to bodily push the operator away from the press during theclosing movement of the main working jaws of said press, toggle jointmechanism connecting the respective opposed arms, and connectionsbetween said toggle joint mechanism and said movable part of said pressfor actuating said arms and movingsaidbarstopositionthe operator adefinite distance away from the press during the closing movement of thejaws of said press, and. means for guiding said toggle joint mecha nismand the operating connection therefor.

7 In a safety guard for a press having a movable part, the combinationof two pairs of spaced arms, each arm being pivotally Cil mounted at oneend adjacent to and independently of said press; a horizontally disposedbar disposed immediately in front of and extending the full Width ofeach end of said press at a predetermined height with respect to theoperator; said bar having its ends secured to the free ends of the armsof one of said pairs of spaced arms; a member fixed to each side of saidmovable part; and a pair 1.0 of links disposed on each side of saidpress

